A script to keep Flash Player up to date
May 04, '11 07:30:00AM • Contributed by: phillymjs

Frequent security updates to Flash prompted me to write this script to keep Flash current on Intel Macs that I manage. While more recent versions of Flash can be configured to notify end users of available updates, this script will silently check and upgrade to a newer version if one is available.

It works by checking the installed version of Flash (if any) against the version number available for Mac Safari/Firefox/Opera on Adobe's About Flash page. If the two are different, it downloads the DMG of the latest Flash installer to the same folder where the script resides, silently mounts the DMG, and executes the installer package buried in the 'Install Flash' application. It runs completely silently and will log all of its activities to a file for later review. If Flash is not present, it will be installed on the system. In its current form it will not advise users to quit their browsers, because it was written to be run during off hours on machines sitting at the login window.

To use it, save the script file wherever you like on your system (I make a directory called 'Management' in /Library), and make it executable. Run it manually via Terminal, or via a launchd item for 'set it and forget it' operation. It needs to be run with root privileges, or the installation will fail.

A script to keep Flash Player up to date
Authored by: leamanc on May 05, '11 12:57:28PM

Maybe, but it is effective, and he's not the first person I've seen do it. I think it's going to become a pretty popular solution for those who are tech-inclined enough to know how to uninstall or disable plugins.

A script to keep Flash Player up to date
Authored by: kaidoh on May 04, '11 02:18:22PM

You can call me a chicken, but there are people out there who consider it no good advise at all to give a silent install script root privileges allowing it to install stuff around their machines without users even realizing it (especially when that stuff comes from a company infamous for their installation abominations). This is the fast lane to a completely messed up system.
I can't believe this got published without any warning words, so I'll add them here: do this if you must, but only do it, if you fully understand what you are doing and what the consequences might be. Better yet: don't do it.

A script to keep Flash Player up to date
Authored by: metiure on May 05, '11 01:34:23AM

"I can't believe this got published without any warning words, so I'll add them here: do this if you must, but only do it, if you fully understand what you are doing and what the consequences might be. Better yet: don't do it."